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In your YA, diversifying your storiesThu, 02 Nov 2017 17:18:11 +0000en-UShourly1DiversifYA: Susie Dayhttp://www.diversifya.com/diversifya/diversifya-susie-day/
Mon, 23 Nov 2015 23:46:37 +0000http://www.diversifya.com/?p=1249I’m super excited to introduce you to this week’s interviewee.
She’s as utterly badass as she is lovely, has written a bazillion books, bringing us funny and real and diverse, all tangled up together in a way that feels utterly normal. She brought us Mum Gen & Mum K in the Pea books and Sam & Sam, *and* adorable geeky swoony YA stories like TUMBLING. She appreciates Doctor Who, and as if all that weren’t enough, she plays roller derby. (Fangirl? Moi? :D) Find her on twitter @mssusieday, or through her website.
Please put your hands together and welcome Susie Day to DiversifYA!

1. How do you identify yourself?

I’m gay. I don’t know if I don’t really connect to ‘lesbian’ as a label due to feminism (why take two words into the shower when we could just use one?), or if it’s some hideous internalised homophobia. I’d probably place myself into the demi/grey area too, but I’m still figuring that out. Right now ‘gay’ feels like it fits me best.

2. What did it feel like growing up gay?

I didn’t come out (to myself, or anyone else) until I was in my 30s, so that one’s tricky. Did I grow up gay? I indentified as straight as a teen; I had straight relationships as a teen; I certainly never suffered from the kind of bullying an out kid will. But on some level I did know, always, and so did other people. There’s a scene in ‘Tumbling’ where Shirin relates the One Gay Kid in school coming out to her, expecting her to do the same and her mistaking it as a come-on, which is lifted almost from life (the reality did not include free chicken). But in my school, in the 80s… Have you seen the film Pride? I grew up miles from the Welsh valleys, though it’s where my Dad’s from, but that film resonated in so many ways. Apart from there being all those visible gay people in it.

I recall being acutely anxious about Section 28; worrying about a teacher that we all quietly assumed was gay. I remember the absolute terror that AIDS gravestone warning advert in the UK instilled in me (quality sex education there, thanks Thatch). Remember there was no internet community to talk me through this. (Yes, people are actually this old. Sorry.) The resounding message about being gay was BE AFRAID. So when I got my first boyfriend, there was that airpunch feeling: yes, I’m not weird, thank fuck!

A big part of that compartmentalisation for me was tied to anxiety about being ‘good at being a girl’. When I was younger I was a tomboy and that was fine, cute, acceptable, but age 11 hormones hit me like a train and suddenly I was this mass of boobs and hips and also nerdiness and social incompetence, and my femaleness seemed like some horrible bomb that broke everything. In my twenties I spent a lot of time trying to claw back that Acceptable Girl status: losing weight, dressing ‘better’. What I was doing was basic self-care, but it was hard to climb past the rom-com makeover narrative of ‘this will allure the menfolk!’ and realise the goal was me, functional and happier, and – eventually – ready to be out.

3. What are the biggest challenges? Conversely, what are the quirks/perks?

The personal challenges, I suppose, are not being sad about what was lost by years of quietly knowing and ignoring it. I have a lovely life, but I think it would look very different if I’d come out at 16, into a world that embraced that.

But age brings perks too (I promise!). I’m not oblivious to the statistics about homelessness, unemployment and suicide for LGBTQ young people, especially BAME young people; to how many nations still criminalise homosexuality, nor the British Empire’s historical role in that. But I can see how far we’ve come since I was a kid: the legislative shift towards equal marriage around the world; the reflection of that in the young people I know and work with, who are equipped with language and knowledge and resources my generation of teens couldn’t envisage.

Since coming out I’ve been actively encouraged and supported to keep that present in my writing. Ruth Knowles at Penguin Random House is my editor for the Pea’s Book series, in which the Paget-Skidelskys are the same-sex-parented family next door to Pea’s own atypical family; she was the one who suggested they should have their own book. My 2016 middle-grade ends with a gay wedding (spoiler!). I know of other authors who don’t feel so well-supported, but I want everyone to know that’s possible. We can have high expectations of our industry. We should.

4. What do you wish people knew about LGBTQ people who come out later in life?

We’re not liars, deceivers, dishonest. We’re not brave, heroic, tragic. We will have a variety of reasons for that delay – some crappy, some we don’t fully understand ourselves – and, unless we’re besties, you probably don’t need to ask.

Some of us will have married straight partners, perhaps have children, and indentify as bi; some won’t. (If I felt bisexual was the right identifier for me I would use it; I’m alive to the history of Bi erasure in our community and I don’t want to contribute to it – but nor do I want to rewrite the status of past relationships or misindentify myself.) Some may change the identification they connect to over time. Some will remember the word ‘queer’ being yelled at them as a slur and still find it a jolt to hear used positively.

Even if we’re not kids any more, we still need you to have our backs.

5. What are the biggest cliches/stereotypes you’ve seen?

You know, I’m going to call myself out here! When I started the Pea’s Book series my inspiration was Noel Streatfeild’s Ballet Shoes from 1936. I felt that if the two nice retired lady doctors who shared a flat above were written now, they might be a couple – so I created the Paget-Skidelskys: Dr Genevieve Paget and Dr Kara Skidelsky, family therapists and child psychologists, who have twins of their own, Sam and Sam. They fitted that fictional universe. In the way that the Dursleys fit in Philosopher’s Stone, but feel a bit funky by Order of the Phoenix.

I loved giving that family its own space in The Secrets of Sam & Sam. I think it’s a fun, funny, smart book and I love that it isn’t packaged as Issue Central: it’s about two kids who are scared to go on a residential school trip for good reasons, and the fact they have two mums is not the story. But those mums are two nice middle-class educated women who worry about gender-stereotyping and hummus. They are basically encrusted with granola, and if I had my time again, I would change that.

In YA, I’d really love to see more happy out girls. More books post-coming-out where the story is driven by something else; more jokes.

But I’d also love to ditch the stereotype that the need for LGBTQ rep in fiction only starts with YA. Bring me the girl fostered by a lovely queer couple who won’t let her have a kitten! Bring me my gay working-class 11-year-old wizard worrying about starting their new school! Middle-grade readers need stories too.

BONUS: What is your advice for writers writing diverse characters?

Please do. Please. Absence speaks. If you are a white straight cis able middle-class person, it is still not neutral to write only about white straight cis able middle-class people: it’s a choice. If it feels ‘natural’ or ‘automatic’ that’s because you come from a literary tradition that ignores vast swathes of our culture. That won’t change unless you participate in changing it.

Don’t be afraid of ‘getting it wrong’. (You will get it wrong.) Don’t be afraid of ‘getting called out’. (You may get called out.) Try to get it right, as hard as you can: listen, read, learn, ask. Don’t be scared to look stupid in front of your crit partner or consultant. Ask for help. Pay people for their time. Do the work. You are part of a body of work, called All Children’s Books; make sure All Children have Books.

Coco writes Multicultural YA lit and other short stories. She has a degree in English Education from the University of Georgia in Athens, Ga. She teaches High School English Language Arts. When Coco isn’t writing or telling stories, she is spending time with her fiance, Eli, and her dog, Coconut.

Some of Coco’s likes and hobbies include reading, drinking tea, playing Frisbee, yoga, organizing and reorganizing her bookshelves, cooking, and playing video games.

Coco is a featured author on Wattpad. You can also find her on twitter or her blog, and buy her first novel, Sun Kissed, on Amazon.

1. How do you identify yourself?

Normally, I identify as Black American. My father’s side of the family comes from the Bahamas. My mom is Bi-racial (White and Black). I grew around a lot of West Indian immigrants, so I would classify myself as culturally Afro-Caribbean. I am also female and heterosexual.

2. What did it feel like growing up as a Black American?

Growing up as a Black female was interesting for me. I definitely felt like my family was unlike many Black American households. Having family members who are immigrants makes for a different family dynamic and I often felt out of place around other young Black people. I should also mention that I was born and spent most of my childhood in South Florida. There I was surrounded by diversity. My friends ranged in ethnicity (Black, Latino, Jewish, Asian, White). Then I moved to Georgia, where there was not as much diversity and people (even at my young age) had very rigid expectations for race. It was all very confusing for me. I got teased for being an “oreo” by my Black peers because of the way I spoke. It didn’t take long for me to get over that. Thanks to my mom’s uplifting attitude, I had a strong sense of self and only needed a few close friends to be content.

No matter what environment I was in, I gravitated towards diversity (sorry if that sounds weird, but it’s true) and tried to expose myself to different cultures as much as I could. For example, hosting foreign exchange students and joining a Multicultural sorority in college. I have always and still find much joy in learning about people different from myself.

3. What are the biggest challenges? Conversely, what are the quirks/perks?

I will answer this from the perspective of being a Black writer of Fantasy Fiction. Growing up, I loved reading Fantasy. But at an early age I started to notice that not many of the characters looked like me, my family members, or my friends. And even if the story did sprinkle in some POC characters, the protagonist was almost always White. At one point I assumed that Black main characters were only appropriate in Street/Urban lit or Historical fiction on slavery. Sad, isn’t it?

Writing from diverse perspectives never started out as a personal agenda for me, but when I started to take writing seriously at the age of ten, I found myself exploring underrepresented mythologies for potential writing material. I could already see that the YA Fantasy shelves were loaded with Norse and Greek Mythology-inspired worlds. So I turned to the myths of Latin America, Meso-America, the Indigenous North Americans, the Caribbean, and Polynesia for my inspiration. As I matured, I discovered writers like Isabel Allende, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and Sherman Alexie, who served as my role models.

Long story short, I find writing from the perspective of POC characters or in the environments of Non-Western cultures to be a very fulfilling and exciting experience! My dream is to reach out to young readers that were like me — admirers of the fantasy genre, but unable to see themselves reflected in the main heroine/hero.

As for other perks… Well, I just naturally draw attention for being a Non-White author. Especially in YA Fantasy where there are not a whole lot of us (especially Black women). So it makes it easier to stand out as an author. And boy, do I love to stand out.

4. What do you wish people knew about being a Black writer of Fantasy fiction?

I’ve been on a lot of fantasy forums in which people bring up the lack of POC characters. For the most part, writers are still very sensitive about this subject (at least in fantasy). Many writers believe that there is not really a point to including more diversity in a genre that they feel already has enough diversity (as in elves, dragons, dwarves, etc). But what many do not realize is that much those characteristics of fantasy come from Western cultures and Western myths. Western culture is not bad, but it is ubiquitous and overshadows everything else.

So if there is one thing I want people to know about Multicultural Fantasy is that it is not exclusive, but rather an inclusive subgenre. Most of my readers comment on how unique my story is. They definitely recognize it as fantasy, but it’s not the same repeated ideas and world view.

5. What are the biggest cliches/stereotypes you’ve seen?

I’m going to interpret this as biggest stereotypes associated with POC/lgbt characters:

(1) Their only purpose is the token. They never fill the spot as protagonist. They are simply there to serve as the Black best friend, the gay best friend, or what have you.

(2) They don’t belong in fantasy. POC/lgbt characters only belong in historical fiction, general fiction, etc.

(4) Having POC/lgbt characters will always inevitably end up offending someone. So why bother?

This is why we have to do research! If you are going to write a book on pirates, but you don’t have a clue about pirate culture, you go and read about it before attempting to write it. I had do a lot of research and even some one on one interviews with people from South America before I wrote my novel, Sun Kissed, which takes place in Brazil. I didn’t know anything about the Portuguese language, Brazilians, or Indigenous Brazilians. So I did my best to read up and talk to people from that culture before making my book go live. I even took a semester of Portuguese in college to get a better idea of modern Brazilian culture and the slang.

BONUS: What is your advice for writers writing diverse characters?

My advice to writing diverse characters would be to go for it! There are so many readers out there who don’t see themselves in the books they love. It touches my heart whenever someone thanks me for representing their culture and perspectives.

Brandi M Ziegler joins us at DiversifYA today! Brandi was my (Marieke’s) PitchWars 2014 mentee and she’s a extremely talented writer and all-round wonderful person. You can find her on Twitter and on her blog!

1. How do you identify yourself?

The short answer is black. But I also identify as a woman, a mom, and a writer. I suppose the politically correct answer (the one I put a check next to) is African-American.

2. What did it feel like growing up being black?

I was not a typical black child. My father worked hard serving his country and was a high ranking officer in the US Army before I came along. So the majority of my neighbors were white, including the general and his kids who lived down the street. I was definitely an “oreo” growing up. But it’s not just that. In the military, at least when I was a military brat, if you were racist, you were shunned. As far as the officer housing… yeah, those little boxes on the hillside were pretty much full of white people. Everywhere else though? The diversity was beautiful. So many men and women from so many backgrounds serving their country. I didn’t really feel connected to my heritage growing up because I lived in a community that didn’t see color. We were all there to honorably support our troops, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

There were moments in my life where being black was brought to the front of my mind though. When pen ink tattoos were serious business and my friends would say, Oh. That probably won’t show up on your skin. Or when my friends wanted to dye and braid hair and say, Is this okay to put in your hair? Well, at least yours is already braided. Frankly, my mom would have killed me for trying to do anything to my hair anyway. Or when Spice Girls was the girl band, I was always Scary Spice even though I really wanted to be Posh Spice. So even as an embraced oreo I was still the token black girl.

3. What are the biggest challenges? Conversely, what are the quirks/perks?

The greatest challenge for me today is embracing my heritage. I’m pregnant with a girl, I have a toddler son, and I don’t want them to be as out of touch as I was. They’re half black, and through literature and my extended family, I want them to understand what that means. I challenge myself to bring diversity to my work so my kids, so all diverse kids, can see themselves in what they read and feel represented.

Living in a primarily white area, it’s interesting to run across another black person. They do a double-take like I’m a dodo in the wild, and ask where our people hang out. And I’m like, you tell me. I need to find my kids some black friends.

4. What do you wish people knew about being black?

I want to say it’s the same as being any other color. But I know when anyone thinks back on the history of their people, there are moments that make them choke up with dismay, moments that make them swell with pride. I think this is especially true for black people. Over the years I’ve considered being black a privilege. My heritage, my people’s history, is deep in my bones, pumping through my veins, and exhaling through each breath. We might all bleed the same, but we come from different places, and we all want that place to be shared and recognized and valued. So being black is just like you being you, wanting to make sure people remember the place you came from. And let’s be honest, we all feel our place is cooler than everyone else’s. Pride is a real thing, and people are driven by their right to be heard.

5. What are the biggest cliches/stereotypes you’ve seen?

That I want to throw slavery in your face to justify my actions. That I’ll go ghetto on your ass if you look at me sideways. That I know how to dance like a bamf. None of these are true about me. Especially the dancing.

The biggest I’ve seen are usually on TV. That we’re all super athletic. That we all love dope, fried chicken, watermelon, etc. That we’re ignorant and on welfare. That we voted for President Obama simply because he’s black.

BONUS: What is your advice for writers writing diverse characters?

Don’t be afraid to try. You’re not going to get everything right. Someone is going to raise an eyebrow and say you’re wrong, wrong, wrong. You do you, do your best to represent thoughtfully and thoroughly (with research from the internet to in-person interviews) and make sure your beta-readers are diverse and real with you.

We’ve got a bit of a special diversifYA interview this week, because it comes from one of my (Lucinda’s) students. I’m lucky enough to get to teach on writing courses with some truly incredible teenagers, and I’m really excited to be able to introduce one of them to you today.

Nathan Scott is a fantastic writer, last seen working on a novel that challenged every big question I could think of, and is already designing his own writing courses. He’s dropped by today to talk about being an asexual teenager in an (arguably) hypersexual world…

1.How do you identify yourself?

I identify as a Bi-Romantic Asexual. For those unfamiliar with the Asexual Spectrum, it means that I am romantically attracted to both men and women, but feel no sexual attraction.

2. What did it feel like growing up as a Bi-romantic Asexual?

Growing up I didn’t really question how I felt until I was 17. I got really worried because, it just seemed as if nobody was attractive to me. Without any knowledge of Asexuality, all I could think was that I was broken. I felt totally removed from something everyone else seemed to inherently understand and be a part of. I did some web searching and found out about the ‘Kinsey Scale’ and did a quiz. Generally I’m very skeptical about online quizzes but I was extremely confused when the result was [X] or ‘Non-Sexual’.

From that I felt relieved. I wasn’t alone and I certainly wasn’t broken. It was nice just to have an explanation for how I felt.

3. What are the biggest challenges? Conversely, what are the quirks/perks?

In terms of challenges, I haven’t really had too many. My mum was very supportive when I told her, she’s always been very supportive of me so I had no fears when coming out of my Asexual closet. Ignorance tends to be the big challenge. I gave up trying to explain what Asexuality was to some of my guy friends, they really just couldn’t process the whole thing. We’re all good friends, my orientation isn’t the sum of our friendship,

The perks? Immunity to most advertisements is pretty cool, “sex sells” doesn’t quite work on me. That said I am totally blind to any and all flirting attempts, it all just flies right over my head.

4. What do you wish people knew about Asexuality?

I wish people simply knew about Asexuality, a lot of people just simply haven’t heard of it. My college had a diversity survey at the start of the year and when it asked what orientation I identified as, Asexual wasn’t an option. It’s frustrating to not have any representation anywhere.

5. What are the biggest cliches/stereotypes you’ve seen?

Nothing really, but then, I’m usually quite private about my Asexuality. I know of the cliche responses but never encountered them personally.

BONUS: What is your advice for writers writing diverse characters?

Show some flare, some consideration, some respect to the people you want to be able to identify with your character. Make them human, make them flawed, selfish, brooding, excitable, brave, cowardly, flamboyant, introverted, whatever their race or orientation.

Sara Gaines is the author of the Halvarian Ruin series, a LGBTQ YA series from Harmony Ink. In the first book, Noble Falling, Duchess Aleana Melora is facing a loveless marriage to a man she hardly knows. When her convoy is attacked, Aleana discovers that her people have turned against her, believing her to be a traitor. If she can reach her future husband, Tallak, she might be able to survive, but she’ll need help to do so. That help comes from Kahira, a woman Aleana is drawn to despite the warnings of her guard. The second book, Noble Persuasion, continues their story as the world Aleana has known crumbles around her. For more information about Sara or the books, check out her website or her Twitter account!

1. How do you identify yourself?

Lesbian who sometimes forgets she has a pretty major case of bipolar disorder. More recently, I’ve been adding Southerner to that list and letting my accent come back one mispronounced vowel at a time.

2. What did it feel like growing up with bipolar disorder?

The worst part of bipolar disorder is that it often manifests in your late teens/early twenties. Or, as many people with bipolar disorder can tell you, pretty much the worst time possible since you’re likely trying to make it through college and figure out what you want to do with your life at the same time. For me, I started showing the first signs when I was around sixteen, but it didn’t become clear that I was dealing with bipolar disorder and not just normal mood swings until I was in college. Looking back, I should’ve known before I did, but it took being dragged to a couple therapists before it really clicked.

When I finally had a name for what I was going through, it was incredibly easy to see the parts of my life that had been impacted. Now know the signs of a mood swing or mixed state and can better manage them. That certainly wasn’t always the case. Back when I was first dealing with everything and trying to find medicine that would make my mental illness something I could live with, my mood swings often got the best of me. To make matters worse, I was also dealing with some pretty serious things in my life that would have been difficult to deal with in any state. I was passively suicidal and did many, many harmful things to myself in both depressive and manic episodes, my methods just looked different.

Things are much better for me now (sometimes I can’t believe how much better, actually.) I still have mood swings and I will for the rest of my life, but I can manage them so well now that they barely impact my life.

3. What are the biggest challenges? Conversely, what are the quirks/perks?

Thankfully, I don’t deal with the worst parts of bipolar disorder as much now. I still deal with my brain rushing so quickly from one point to another that I can’t get the words out fast enough so I end up being unable to speak coherently. I also still deal with feelings of hopelessness and being unworthy of every good thing in my life. The good news is that I at least know how to handle those things now and that’s about as bad as it gets.

I think the worst challenge now is dealing with the misconceptions about people with bipolar disorder. I always worry what will happen if I tell someone I have it, even if the person has known me for a long time. There are so many awful stereotypes about people with mental illness and it seems as though people assume having bipolar disorder means you’re horribly violent and could snap at any second.

As for quirks, well, it might be a small thing, but increased productivity is one thing that comes along with manic episodes. Unfortunately, even that “perk” can get out of hand if I’m not on medication. Productive can easily turn into “oh god I can’t sleep anymore and I forgot to eat anything for the past two days, but it seems like a great idea to keep doing something else.” Hey, there’s a reason I was able to write my first book in college on top of being a double major and playing varsity athletics.

In addition to the productivity, I can also be really fun to be around at the start of a manic phase. I’ll drag you out for an adventure, be in a great mood, do the whole life of the party thing, but that feeling can get cranked well past eleven and it’s too much for me to handle. Again, my medication keeps everything manageable for the most part, so I deal with fewer terrible symptoms now.

4. What do you wish people knew about having a mental illness?

It’s hard. It’s really, really hard to deal with sometimes. I can’t speak for everyone who has a mental illness because they all manifest differently, but even though I’m lucky enough to be able to manage my bipolar disorder well enough to make it through each day, it can be a struggle. I wish people understood the amount of effort it takes for some people to do what comes so easily for others. I recognize that I’m not like most people, but just because my brain works a little differently doesn’t mean I don’t have value.

5. What are the biggest cliches/stereotypes you’ve seen?

Well, I’ve touched on this a little bit, but I have one story that sums up pretty much the worst things people think about individuals with mental illnesses. There was a girl who was planning to live with a couple of my friends and me during our senior year of college. I didn’t know her very well, but we started to hang out more before we even moved in together. One day we were sitting around with a mutual friend and I mentioned that I had bipolar disorder. I’ve never seen someone look so nervous. She spat out a “Wait, are you serious? You’re not going to stand over my bed in the middle of the night with a knife in your hand or anything, right?”

BONUS: What is your advice for writers writing diverse characters?

The best thing you can do when writing diverse characters is to not be afraid to write them in the first place. Throwing a diverse character into a story doesn’t cut it if that representation is bad representation though. When you write a diverse character, make sure you’re listening to that population. I don’t mean just one person either, listen to as many voices as you can and don’t only rely on representations you’ve already seen. As I said previously, my experience with bipolar disorder is not the same as everyone’s.

Today, Jenn Baker is here at DiversifYA! Jennifer Baker is a writer of fiction & nonfiction, creator of the Minorities in Publishing podcast, and one of the wonderful Sr. VPs for We Need Diverse Books, where she’s getting some really exciting stuff done. Her writing appeared in Newtown Literary, Boston Literary Magazine, Eclectic Flash, and Poets & Writers magazine, and a story forthcoming in The Female Complaint.

1. How do you identify yourself?

I identify as an African-American hetero female. Some use Black and some have used American but I feel like African-American best reflects the history of my family’s culture and my ties to America as my birthplace and home.

2. What did it feel like growing up African-American?

I was born & raised in NYC and still reside here. In terms of my upbringing I was raised by my mom, aunts, and grandparents in a 2-story house. I was pretty shielded from racism because of my community being friendly and in a diverse suburban area of Long Island. It was more when I went to the outer boroughs, Queens specifically where I grew up, and other states/countries that I took more notice of the differences in how Black kids, well people of color (PoC) in general, were treated and how sometimes being intelligent, articulate, literate were seen as a surprise for those in marginalized groups. As I got older my ignorance decreased and I began to see firsthand how prevalent stereotypes and assumptions are in society. Not necessarily in my everyday but it definitely comes up often.

3. What are the biggest challenges? Conversely, what are the quirks/perks?

As a woman of color I think one of my biggest challenges has been to be taken seriously or feeling like I have to prove myself (in the workplace) or that my work (essays, fiction, stories) always have to discuss race to be of interest to those outside of my culture. I’ve gotten comments/questions from agents of “how does race play into this story” when really the story was about kids of color with superhuman abilities or about friendship or about family not necessarily about the “hardships” of being a PoC. If my characters were saving the world they may not necessarily be worrying whether or not someone didn’t like them because of their heritage!

I think one of the best things I’ve experienced, especially in doing my podcast and working with WNDB, is meeting more people of color but also more people who believe in the universality of stories. Thanks to social media I’ve connected with the Black Girl Nerd community (Blergs) and also when with those of my background there’s an understanding and safety in being able to say how you feel and know others have experienced much of the same or won’t look at you in a pitying way or think “Why are you complaining so much?”

4. What do you wish people knew about being African-American?

In speaking to some of my friends I found that their American-ness was questioned in a way mine never is. I get the question “Where are you from?” and when I say “New York City” that ends the conversation. But my friends who have heritage tied to the Dominican Republic or Ecuador or India or Bangladesh get prodded over and over. “No, but where are you really from?” suggesting they aren’t citizens or aren’t allowed to share in America’s history. So I wish people knew that not every person of color who isn’t Black or Native American is not American by birth or right.

From my peers I often got a kind of surprise of what I was and wasn’t knowledgeable about. Especially in high school. How could I know Alanis Morissette lyrics but not Notorious B.I.G? Why did I find school so interesting? Thanks to social media there’s more recognition of the Black community of self-proclaimed “nerds” but it’s interesting, and sad, that a quest for knowledge isn’t seen as inherently human but rather inherently not Black.

5. What are the biggest cliches/stereotypes you’ve seen?

I find the eccentric & “sassy” older Black woman who curses and threatens people offensive and not so much funny or entertaining. I’m happy for shows by Shonda Rhimes that reflect Black women, especially dark-skinned Black women, as being attractive and not just being a side character or a mistress to be thrown aside. I dislike seeing the buffoonery of Black culture displayed on screen with no context as someone being smart yet silly, or being well-rounded yet flawed and having their moments. This can also be seen in books where the Black female is “exotic” or “tough talking” or the Black male is “hard” and “angry” and always struggling. I had said once it’d be nice to not feel as though being Black in America is a daily struggle for everyone/everywhere and there’s nothing else to us than the color of our skin. Characters being very one-note, which is highly problematic to me of all characters, but is especially so when it comes to representation of a culture that doesn’t have much (positive) representation on screen or in books period. I’d love it to be plausible and not questioned that a Black teen has two parents and there’s no disparity within their relationship. Or that drugs don’t have to be represented in a story with Black lead characters or that poverty isn’t the cross-the-board economic situation for African Americans.

BONUS: What is your advice for writers writing diverse characters?

My main advice is to think of that character as a person first and not just your “diverse character,” and to also really consider what story you’re trying to tell. In reading work by friends/critique partners writing outside of their “comfort zone” it seemed they had a kernel of an idea but saw the diverse character (often someone of color) being confronted with race, yet the sensitivity and complexity of this issue was not understood so it came off as very patronizing and fake. By looking at your character as “the Black woman who can’t get ahead” it feels like the author may be pigeon-holing them and setting them up to fail or live up to a stereotype that’s been seen before. If you’re not seeing your character as a person they become a symbol for what you may not understand. And if you just want to tell a “diverse story” for the sake of diversity without considering what’s been written, what’s been said, what representations are out there already, and what you as author are bringing to this piece that is different and insightful then you’re not necessarily adding value to the diversity discussion. And last bit of advice is, of course, Do your research!